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United States Patent |
5,609,503
|
Tsuji
,   et al.
|
March 11, 1997
|
Double-lock type connector
Abstract
In a double-lock type connector, terminals are primarily locked when
inserted into terminal accommodating chambers in a connector housing, and
the top wall of a spacer is depressed so that the latter is locked to the
connector housing, thereby to secondarily lock the terminals. In the
double-lock type connector, the spacer has a pair of elastically
deformable flexible wall which are confronted with each other with a
predetermined space between them and have first engaging parts on their
inner surfaces which are confronted with each others, and the connector
housing has a protruded portion which is slidably engaged with the
flexible walls and has second engaging parts which are engageable with the
first engaging part.
Inventors:
|
Tsuji; Masanori (Shizuoka, JP);
Jinno; Keishi (Shizuoka, JP)
|
Assignee:
|
Yazaki Corporation (Tokyo, JP)
|
Appl. No.:
|
435787 |
Filed:
|
May 5, 1995 |
Foreign Application Priority Data
Current U.S. Class: |
439/752; 439/733.1 |
Intern'l Class: |
H01R 013/514 |
Field of Search: |
439/741,733,752,595
|
References Cited
U.S. Patent Documents
4867712 | Sep., 1989 | Kato et al. | 439/752.
|
5316504 | May., 1994 | Jinno | 439/752.
|
5322456 | Jun., 1994 | Yagi et al. | 439/752.
|
5501619 | Mar., 1996 | Sakatani et al. | 439/752.
|
Foreign Patent Documents |
4-26190 | May., 1992 | JP.
| |
Primary Examiner: Pirlot; David L.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Sughrue, Mion, Zinn, Macpeak & Seas
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A double-lock type connector comprising:
a connector housing including terminal accommodating chambers, said
connector housing having a cavity which is extended across said terminal
accommodating chambers, opened in the an outer wall of said connector
housing having an opening communicating with said cavity;
a spacer insertable through said opening and into said cavity, said spacer
being moveable from a temporary locking state, in which terminals are
insertable into said terminal accommodating chambers, to a final locking
state, in which said terminals are retained in said terminal accommodating
chambers by said spacer, said spacer including:
a top wall similar in configuration to said opening; and
a pair of elastically deformable flexible walls which are extended
downwardly from said top wall and defining a space therebetween, said
connector housing having an internal protruded portion which is received
in said space such that said flexible walls slidably engage opposing faces
of said protruding portion; and
locking means for locking said spacer in the temporary locking state and in
the final locking state,
wherein when said spacer is forcibly moved from the temporary locking state
toward the final locking state under a condition where at least one of
said terminals is not completed inserted, said spacer is automatically
returned to the temporary locking state by an elastic restoring force of
said flexible walls acting on said protruding portion after said force is
removed even when a portion of said Spacer has been locked in said final
position by said locking means.
2. A double-lock type connector as claimed in claim 1, wherein said locking
means is formed in said spacer and said connector housing.
3. A double-lock type connector as claimed in claim 2, wherein said locking
means includes at least one of:
first engaging member formed on the inner surfaces of said flexible walls
and the outer surface of said protruded portion so as to be engaged with
said inner surfaces of said flexible walls; and
second engaging member formed on an elastic locking pawl formed on the edge
of said top wall and an edge portion of an opening of said cavity.
4. A double-lock type connector as claimed in claim 3, wherein said first
engaging member includes one of either protrusions and recesses and said
second engaging member includes one of recesses and protrusions.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a double-lock type connector in which terminals
are fixedly secured not only by flexible locking arms provided in terminal
accommodating chambers but also by a spacer which is inserted in such a
manner as to cross the terminal accommodating chambers.
2. Related Art
In general, in the terminal accommodating chambers of a connector, flexible
locking arms (hereinafter referred to as "lances", when applicable) are
provided to prevent the removal of the terminals. However, in the case of
a miniaturized connector, the lances are limited in dimension, and
therefore their terminal holding forces may not be large enough. In this
case, in addition to the lances, a terminal locking member is provided to
doubly lock the terminals.
An example of the double-lock type connector of this type in which the
terminal locking member is set in the terminal accommodating chambers to
doubly lock the terminals, has been disclosed, for instance, by Japanese
Patent Application (OPI) No. 54677/1989 (the term "OPI" as used herein
means an "unexamined application"). The double-lock type connector is as
shown in FIGS. 13 through 15. FIG. 13 is an exploded perspective view of a
conventional double-lock type connector having a spacer which serves as
the terminal locking member, FIG. 14 is a sectional view showing the
spacer which is temporarily locked, and FIG. 15 is a sectional view
showing the spacer which is finally locked.
A connector housing 51 has terminal accommodating chambers 53 arranged in
three layers. Each of the terminal accommodating chambers 53 has a lance
54 which is adapted to primarily lock a terminal 55 (cf. FIGS. 14 and 15).
A cavity 57 is formed in the middle of the connector housing 51 in such a
manner that it is extended across the terminal accommodating chambers 53
and opened in the upper wall 51a of the connector housing 51. A terminal
locking member 61 (hereinafter referred to as "a spacer 61", when
applicable) is inserted into the cavity 57. The spacer 61 comprises a top
wall 63 and a plurality of leg-walls 62 extended downwardly from the top
wall 63. The leg-walls 62 are arranged in alignment with partition walls
58 which separate the terminal accommodating chambers 53 from one another.
A plurality of terminal locking fins 64 are extended from the right and
left surfaces of the leg-walls 62 so that they are engageable with the
terminals 55 inserted into the terminal accommodating chambers 53. The
spacer 61 is inserted into the cavity 57 in two steps. In the first step,
the spacer 61 is temporarily locked, and in the second step it is finally
locked. When the spacer 61 is temporarily locked as shown in FIG. 14
(hereinafter referred to as "a temporary locking state", when applicable),
given terminals 55 can be inserted between the leg-walls 62. When, after
the insertion of the terminals 55, the spacer 61 is further depressed, the
spacer 61 is finally locked as shown in FIG. 15 (hereinafter referred to
as "a final locking state", when applicable). That is, with the spacer in
the temporary locking state, the lances 54 are engaged with the locking
holes 75 (FIG. 13) of the terminals 55; that is, the terminals 55 are
primarily locked. With the spacer inn the final locking state, the
terminal locking fins 64 are engaged with a pair of locking pieces 76
protruded from each of the terminals 55; that is, the latter 55 are
secondarily locked. Thus, the terminals 55 have been doubly locked.
The spacer 61 has a plurality of locking protrusions 65 which are extended
from one edge of the top wall 63. When the spacer 61 is in the temporary
locking state, the locking protrusions 65, being located along the edge of
the opening of the cavity 57, clamp the upper wall 51a of the connector
housing 51; and when the spacer 61 is in the final locking state, the
locking protrusions 65 are engaged with the inner surface 51a of the upper
wall 51a of the connector housing, thus fixedly locking the spacer 61.
The above-described conventional double-lock type connector suffers from
the following difficulties: If the insertion of the terminal 55 into the
terminal accommodating chamber is incomplete, then the terminal locking
fins 64 striking against with the locking pieces 76 of the terminal 55, so
that the top wall 63 of the spacer 61 is raised, and accordingly it is
impossible to lock the locking protrusions 65 of the spacer 61 to the
upper wall of the connector housing 51 along the edge of the opening of
the cavity 57. This means that the spacer 61 will not function to properly
prevent the removal of the terminals 55, or to permit an easy
determination of whether or not the terminals 55 are satisfactorily
inserted into the connector housing 51. However, the double-lock type
connector is disadvantageous in the following point: In the case where the
insertion of at least one of the terminals 55 is unsatisfactory, the
spacer 61 is partially raised, but the locking protrusions 65 are engaged
with the connector housing 51 in the region where the terminals are
correctly inserted. Hence, it is difficult for a visual inspection or an
inspection with a checker to accurately detect the states of the inserted
terminals.
Once the locking protrusions 65 are engaged with connector housing, then
they are made dull. Hence, in using the spacer, it is impossible to
smoothly engage the spacer with the connector housing.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In view of the foregoing, an object of the invention is to provide a
double-lock type connector in which it can be positively detected whether
or not terminals have been correctly inserted into the connector housing,
and even if the spacer is repeatedly placed in the temporary locking state
and in the final locking state, it can be smoothly and satisfactorily
locked to the connector housing at all times.
The foregoing object of the invention has been achieved by the provision of
a double-lock type connector comprising: a connector housing including
terminal accommodating chambers, the connector housing having a cavity
which is extended across the terminal accommodating chambers, and opened
in the outer wall of the connector housing; and a spacer which is inserted
into the cavity and held in two steps being placed in a temporary locking
state and in a final locking state, wherein the spacer includes: a top
wall which is similar in configuration to the cavity; and a pair of
elastically deformable flexible walls which are extended downwardly from
the top wall and spaced from each other, and the connector housing has a
protruded portion inside with which the flexible walls are slidably
engaged, and when the spacer, being inclined, tends to be placed in the
final locking state from the temporary locking state, the spacer is placed
in the temporary locking state again by the elastic restoring force of the
flexible walls.
In the double-lock type connector, according to the invention, temporary
locking means for placing the spacer in the temporary locking state, and
final locking means for placing the spacer in the final locking state are
provided between the spacer and the connector housing, the temporary
locking means and the final locking means being provided by means
comprising first engaging parts formed on the inner surfaces of the
flexible walls, and second engaging parts formed on the outer surface of
the protruded portion so as to be engaged with the first engaging parts
and/or means comprising an elastic locking pawl formed on the edge of the
top wall 8, and the edge portion of the opening of the cavity.
In the double-lock type connector, according to the invention, the first
engaging parts are protrusions (or recesses), while the second engaging
parts are recesses (or protrusions).
When, in the case where the insertion of a terminal into the connector
housing is incomplete, the state of the spacer is switched over to the
final locking state from the temporary locking state, then the spacer
strikes against the terminal. As a result, the spacer is tilted, and the
spacer is depressed on the side only where the terminals are
satisfactorily inserted into the connector housing. At the same time, the
right and left flexible walls of the spacer are pushed outwardly with
their inner surfaces being abutted against the protruded portion of the
connector housing. As a result, a restoring force of the flexible walls
thus elastically deformed provides a moment which acts on the spacer as
follows: When the spacer is released; that is, upon the removal of the
spacer depressing force, the moment acts as a force to raise the spacer as
a whole, so that the spacer is placed in the temporary locking state
again. Hence, the double-lock type connector of the invention is free from
the difficulty that the spacer, being tilted, is partially engaged with
the connector housing. Hence, during inspection, it can be readily
determined whether or not the terminals have been correctly inserted into
the connector housing.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING(S)
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a double-lock type connector, which
constitutes a first embodiment of the invention;
FIG. 2 is a perspective rear view of a spacer employed in the double-lock
type connector;
FIG. 3 is a view taken in the direction of the arrow P in FIG. 2, showing
the spacer;
FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line C--C in FIG. 1, showing the
spacer which is in a temporary locking state;
FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along line B--B in FIG. 4;
FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along line A--A in FIG. 4;
FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along line C--C in FIG. 1, showing the
spacer which is in a final locking state;
FIG. 8 ms a sectional view as in FIG. 4, showing the spacer which is in the
final locking state;
FIG. 9 is a diagram outlining a spacer locking mechanism;
FIG. 10 is a diagram for a description of the operation of the spacer
locking mechanism;
FIG. 11 is a sectional view showing one modification of the spacer locking
mechanism;
FIG. 12 is a sectional view showing essential components of a second
embodiment of the invention;
FIG. 13 is a perspective view of a conventional double-lock type connector;
FIG. 14 is a sectional view showing a spacer in the conventional
double-lock type connector which is in a temporary locking state; and
FIG. 15 is a sectional view showing the spacer in the conventional
double-lock type connector which is in a final locking state.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
A double-lock type connector, which constitutes a first embodiment of the
invention, will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 through 8.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the double-lock type connector according to
the invention. FIG. 2 is a perspective rear view of a spacer. FIG. 3 is a
front view of the spacer. FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line C--C
in FIG. 1. FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along line B--B in FIG. 4,
showing the spacer which is temporarily locked. FIG. 6 is a sectional view
taken along line A--A in FIG. 4, showing the spacer which is temporarily
locked. FIG. 7 is a sectional view showing the spacer which is finally
locked. FIG. 8 is a sectional view taken along line B--B in FIG. 4,
showing the spacer which is finally locked.
A connector housing 1 has terminal accommodating chambers 3 arranged in
plural layers (two layers in the embodiment). Each of the terminal
accommodating chambers 3 has a lance 4 (cf. FIG. 5) which is primarily
connected to a terminal 5 inserted into the terminal accommodating chamber
3. A cavity 7 is formed substantially in the middle of the connector
housing 1 in such a manner that it is extended across the terminal
accommodating chambers 3 and opened upwardly in the upper wall 1a of the
connector housing 1.
The spacer 6 includes: a top wall 8 which is so shaped as to sealingly
close the opening of the cavity 7; a pair of flexible walls 9 which are
extended downwardly from the top wall 8 and are confronted with each other
with a predetermined space between them; a pair of locking protrusions (or
first engaging parts which engage with second engaging parts (described
later)) 10 formed on the inner surfaces of the flexible walls 9 which are
confronted with each other, respectively; and a pair of outer walls 12
which are provided outside the flexible walls 9, respectively. When the
spacer is inserted into the connector housing 1, the outer walls 12
together with flexible walls 9 define the terminal accommodating chambers
3 partially.
The ends of the outer walls 12 are coupled through a pair of coupling walls
13 to the ends of the flexible walls 9, respectively. Pairs of terminal
locking pieces 14 are formed on the inner surfaces of the coupling walls
13 and the top wall 8. When the spacer 6 is temporarily locked to the
connector housing 1, the terminal locking pieces 14 are not in the
terminal locking chambers 3; and when the spacer 6 is finally locked to
the connector housing 1, the terminal locking pieces 14 enter the terminal
locking chambers 3 to engage with the terminals 5.
When the spacer 6 is inserted into the cavity 7, it is engaged with the
connector housing 1 in two steps--in the first step, it is temporarily
locked to the connector housing 1 (hereinafter referred to as "a temporary
locking state", when applicable), and in the second step, it is finally
locked to the connector housing 1 (hereinafter referred to as "a final
locking state", when applicable). In the temporary locking state, as shown
in FIG. 6 an elastic locking pawl 16 formed on the edge of the top wall 8
is engaged with the edge portion 17 of the opening of the cavity 7 and
then engaged with the inner surface of the edge portion 17, thus being
locked to the connector housing 1. In the final locking state, as shown in
FIGS. 7 and 8 the spacer 8 is completely fitted in the cavity 7, thus
being positively locked to the connector housing 1. As shown in FIGS. 4
and 7, the connector housing 1 has a protruded portion 11 substantially at
the center of the cavity 7. The protruded portion 11 is substantially
U-shaped in section. The protruded portion 11 is formed as a part of the
connector housing 1 when molded so that the flexible walls 9 of the spacer
6 are slidably engaged with the protruded portion 11.
More specifically, the protruded portion 11 is substantially equal in width
to the distance between the flexible walls 9 of the spacer 6, and has a
substantially flat upper wall 11a whose right and left ends are chamfered.
Hence, when the spacer 6 is temporarily locked to the housing 1, the
locking protrusions 10 are abutted against the upper wall 11a, so that the
spacer 6 is held in parallel with the connector housing 10. The right and
left walls of the protruded portion 11 have engaging grooves (or second
engaging parts) 15 and 15, respectively, which function as follows. That
is, when the spacer 6 is finally locked to the connector housing 1, the
locking protrusions 10 are engaged with the engaging grooves 15 to
positively prevent the removal of the spacer 6 from the connector housing
1.
In the above-described embodiment, temporary locking means is made up of
the elastic locking pawl 16 and the edge portion 17 of the opening of the
cavity (hereinafter referred to as "an opening edge portion 17", when
applicable). In this connection, final locking means may be formed by
providing an engaging protrusion at the part to which, when the spacer is
finally locked to the connector housing, the elastic locking pawl 16 is
locked. Hence, the locking means using the locking pawl 16 and the locking
means using the locking protrusions 10 may be selectively used, or may be
used in combination. In the embodiment, the locking pawl 16 is a part of
the temporary locking means, which simplifies the structure of the
housing. In addition, the difficulty that when the locking pawl 16 is made
dull, it is impossible to smoothly lock the spacer to the connector
housing, may be eliminated by using the locking protrusions 10 in
combination with the locking pawl 16. The above-described feature improves
the mechanical strength of the temporary locking means and the final
locking means.
The assembly of the double-lock type connector 1 will be described with
reference to FIGS. 4 through 8. As was described above, FIG. 4 is a
sectional view taken along line C--C in FIG. 1, FIG. 5 is a sectional view
taken along line B--B in FIG. 4, showing the spacer which is temporarily
locked to the housing, FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along line A--A in
FIG. 4, showing the spacer which is temporarily locked to the connector
housing, and FIGS. 7 and 8 (corresponding to FIGS. 4 and 5) are sectional
views showing the spacer which is finally locked to the connector housing.
The spacer is inserted into the cavity 7 as follows: First, the flexible
walls 9 are inserted into the cavity 7 until, as shown in FIG. 4, the
locking protrusions 10 of the flexible walls 9 abut against the upper wall
11a of the protruded portion 11. When the locking protrusions 10 abut
against the upper wall 11a of the protruded portion 11, and the elastic
locking pawl 16 is caused to engage with the inner surface of the
connector housing 1, the spacer 6 is held in parallel with the connector
housing 1; that is, the spacer 6 has been temporarily locked to the
connector housing 1. With the spacer 6 temporarily locked in the
above-described manner, the terminal accommodating chambers 3 are axially
open and clear, so that terminals 5 may be inserted into the terminal
accommodating chambers 3. When, under this condition, a terminal 5 is
inserted into the respective terminal accommodating chamber 3 from behind,
the lance 4 is engaged with a locking hole 21 formed in the terminal 5;
that is, the latter 5 is primarily locked. Next, the top wall 8 of the
spacer 6 is pushed downwardly to further insert the spacer 6 into the
connector housing 1. As a result, the flexible walls 9 of the spacer 6 are
elastically outwardly bent, so that, as shown in FIG. 7 the locking
protrusions 10 of the flexible walls 9 are slid on the right and left
walls of the protruded portion 11, and engaged with the engaging grooves
15, respectively. Thus, the spacer 6 has been finally locked to the
connector housing 1; that is, the removal of the spacer 6 is prevented.
Under this condition, the terminal 5 is secondarily locked; that is, as
shown in FIG. 8, the terminal locking pieces 14 are fitted in the rear end
portion 22 of the terminal 5 so that the terminal 5 is prevented from
being removed backwardly.
When the terminal is incompletely inserted, the spacer 6 functions as
follows:
FIGS. 9 and 10 are diagrams outlining the function of the spacer 6.
In the case where all of the terminals 5 are satisfactorily inserted into
the housing, the spacer functions as follows: As was described before, in
the temporary locking state that the spacer 6 is held horizontal, the top
wall 8 is depressed uniformly, so that the locking protrusions 10 are
engaged with the engaging grooves 9; that is, the spacer 6 is finally
locked to the connector housing. Thus, the temporary locking state has
been smoothly switched over to the final locking state. On the other hand,
in the case where the insertion of at least one of the terminals 5 into
the connector housing is unsatisfactorily, the following trouble occurs
when the spacer is placed in the final locking state from the temporary
locking state: As shown in FIG. 10, on one side where the terminal is
incompletely inserted into the connector housing, the terminal locking
pieces 14 are shifted aside striking against the electrical connecting
part 23 (cf. FIG. 1) of the terminal. When, under this condition, the top
wall 8 is further depressed, as is apparent from FIG. 10 on the other side
where the terminals are satisfactorily inserted, the end portion of the
flexible wall 9 is pushed outwardly being slid on the protruded portion
11; while on the one side where the terminal is not satisfactorily
inserted, the flexible wall 9 is pushed outwardly with its locking
protrusion 10 abutting against the protruded portion 11.
When the flexible walls 9 and 9 are pushed outwardly in the above-described
manner, a stress of restoring the flexible walls 9 provides a moment to
swing the spacer 6 in the direction of the arrow F (cf. FIG. 10). When the
spacer 6 is released; that is, upon the removal of the spacer depressing
force, the moment acts as a force to raise the spacer 6. As a result, the
spacer 6 is placed in the temporary locking state again. Hence, the
double-lock type connector of the invention is free from the difficulty
accompanying the conventional double-lock type connector that, when the
spacer is placed in the final locking state, only a part of the spacer is
fixedly locked to the connector housing. This feature eliminates the
difficulty that the double-lock type connector in which the spacer is
incompletely locked to the connector housing is passed through the
inspection.
Even when, in the case where at least one terminal is unsatisfactorily
inserted into the connector housing, the top wall 8 is depressed, the
spacer is raised and placed in the temporary locking state again. Hence,
it can be readily detected with a checker or the like whether or not the
terminals have been satisfactorily inserted into the connector housing.
When the spacer 6 is fixedly engaged with the connector housing 1, the
flexible walls 9 are flexed outwardly, which prevents the locking
protrusions 10 from being made dull. Hence, the spacer 6 may be used
repeatedly, and it can be smoothly engaged with the connector housing 1 at
all times.
In the above-described embodiment, the locking protrusions 10 are formed on
the flexible walls 9, and the locking walls 15 are formed in the protruded
portion 11; however, the invention is not limited thereto or thereby. That
is, it goes without saying that the connector may be so modified that, as
shown in FIG. 11, the locking protrusions 10 are formed on the protruded
portion 11, while the locking grooves 15 are formed in the flexible walls
9.
In the above-described embodiment, the connector housing is provided for
female type terminals; however, the invention is not limited thereto or
thereby. That is, the technical concept of the invention is applicable to
a connector housing for male type terminals.
FIG. 12 (corresponding to FIG. 6) shows a second embodiment of the
invention.
In the second embodiment, a connector housing 31 has a first recess 32 and
a second recess 33 in its portion which is confronted with the elastic
locking pawl 16 of the spacer 6, in such a manner that the elastic locking
pawl 16 is engageable with the first and second recesses 32 and 33. When
the elastic locking pawl 16 is engaged with the first recess 32, the
spacer 6 is placed in the temporary locking state; and when it is engaged
with the second recess 33, the spacer 6 is placed in the final locking
state.
In the second embodiment, the first and second recesses are used in
combination with the locking protrusions 10 and the engaging grooves 15 in
the first embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 through 8, which increases the
mechanical strength of the locking mechanism of the spacer 6. Hence, the
spacer can be smoothly locked to the connector housing even after it is
used repeatedly.
In the double-lock type connector of the invention, the spacer locking
mechanism is made up of: the pair of flexible walls which are extended
downwardly from the top wall with a predetermined space between them; the
protruded portion of the connector housing which internally touches the
flexible walls; the first engaging parts formed on the inner surfaces of
the flexible walls which are confronted with each other, and the second
engaging parts formed on the side walls of the protruded portion so as to
be engaged with the first engaging parts. Hence, the double-lock type
connector of the invention is free from the difficulty that, when the
spacer is placed in the final locking state with a terminal or terminals
inserted unsatisfactorily into the connector housing, the spacer is
partially locked to the connector housing. In this case, the spacer is
raised, and it is placed in the temporary locking state again.
Accordingly, it can be readily determined whether the spacer is in the
temporary locking state or whether it is in the final locking state. In
addition, it can be positively detected with the checker whether or not a
terminal or terminals are completely inserted into the connector housing.
When the spacer is locked, the flexible walls are bent outwardly. Hence,
even if the spacer is placed in the temporary locking state and the final
locking state repeatedly, the engaging parts formed on the inner surfaces
of the flexible walls are scarcely worn. Hence, the spacer can be smoothly
locked to the connector housing at all times.
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